1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of fluid behaviour, and in particular to a method of predicting in-flight icing of aerodynamic surfaces.
2. Description of Related Art
Numerical modelling of the in-flight ice accretion process and its aerodynamic consequences has been performed for several decades to aid in the design of ice protection systems, and in the certification of aircraft for flight in icing conditions. There exists a diversity of advanced two- and three-dimensional icing models that have been developed by various groups in a number of countries (e.g., Bourgault, Y., Beaugendre, H. and Habashi, W. G., 2000. Development of a shallow-water icing model in FENSAP-ICE. AIAA Journal of Aircraft, 37, 4: 640-646; Morency, F., Tezok, F. and Paraschivoiu, I., 1999. Anti-icing system simulation using CANICE. AIAA Journal of Aircraft, 36, 6: 999-1006; Wright, W. B., 1995. Users manual for the improved NASA Lewis ice accretion code LEWICE 1.6. NASA CR-198355).
It is generally accepted that the existing models adequately predict rime ice formation, but that the prediction of glaze icing is still not sufficiently accurate (Kind, R. J., Potapczuk, M. G., Feo, A., Golia, C. and Shah, A. D., 1998. Experimental and computational simulation of in-flight icing phenomena. Progress in Aerospace Sciences, 34: 257-345). The icing community feels that only by advancing beyond the control-volume approach, which is used by vast majority of the existing models, can significant further progress be realised in the prediction of glaze icing (Gent, R. W., Dart, N. P. and Cansdale, J. T., 2000. Aircraft icing. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A, 358: 2873-2911).